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[-] Mr_Fish@lemmy.world 182 points 2 days ago

Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes

[-] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Elevation (really the force of gravity) has an effect on time, so that's technically only true at sea level.

[-] Mr_Fish@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

If we're including time dilation in this, so does velocity. This means that the velocity from earth's rotation that you gain with elevation counteracts the loss in gravity to some extent (I don't know what the total is, I can't be fucked doing the maths). It also means that latitude effects time dilation because the equator is moving faster. This means that 60 seconds in south Africa is not exactly the same as a minute at the equator.

[-] Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 1 day ago

While this may sound reasonable at first glance, it is only true most of the time. Sometimes a minute contains 59 or 61 seconds, even in Africa.

[-] Natanael@infosec.pub 69 points 1 day ago

This is known as a leap second, named after Usain Bolt leaping over the finish line a second faster than everybody else

[-] Lemminary@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Einstein turbo-rolling in his grave, about to bore a hole through the earth to come and spank you

[-] Corn@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 day ago

The rotational inertia of Einstein boring through the planet is responsible for leap seconds.

[-] sushibowl@feddit.nl 9 points 1 day ago

Never in the history of time has a minute contained only 59 seconds. Even in Africa. And it has been decided that from 2035 onwards, we need to alter time itself in order to eradicate this irregular minute.

We can only hope that before that time, we get to experience one of these magical short minutes. It may happen yet.

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

In Africa, height depends on how tall you are

[-] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 11 points 1 day ago

Together, we can stop this

this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
1272 points (99.0% liked)

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